Page 43 of My Ex-Boyfriend's Brothers

“There’s a wedding emergency. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all night.” He scowled at his brother. “Sorry to ruin whatever lecherous plans you had, Jackson, but Maggie has to come with me.”

“Get fucked.” Jackson gripped the back of my neck and I could feel his willingness to laugh off the night turning sour as he glared at Brad.

I glanced up at him and gave the slightest shake of my head before looking back at Brad. “What’s wrong?”

“Apparently there’s an entire section of the guest list that didn’t receive invitations!”

My heart sank. “That’s not possible. I sent them out myself. I had a callig-”

“It happened, Maggie. You have to fix this. Half of Christina’s family didn’t get an invite.” Brad ignored Jackson and motioned for me to follow him. “Youhaveto fix this.”

I felt like I was going to throw up. Turning to Jackson, I silently pleaded with him to understand. “I have to go. I don’t know how this could have happened but I can’t let Christina’s big day be ruined. Are you okay to get to the cabin?”

He tore his glare away from Brad and nodded at me. “I’m going to Luke’s. Text me later and let me know when you’re done.”

I stretched up and kissed his cheek. Whispering so just he would hear me, I apologized. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Come on, Maggie!”

Jackson reached out and snagged the back of Brad’s shirt. “She’s coming. Treat her with a little respect.”

I shot Jackson one more apologetic look and walked towards the lodge, hoping removing myself from the situation would alleviate their tension.

Brad caught up with me a few seconds later, his quiet anger nearly palpable. He didn’t say anything but he pointed every so often, directing me past the main entrance to the lodge and across the property, around to the back. My feet were killing me and all the laughing had caught up with me. I was tired and my mind was running faster than comfortable over how a mishap with the invitations could’ve happened.

I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going until I glanced up and realized we were nowhere I recognized. I stopped and looked around. “Where are we?”

“What the hell are you thinking, Maggie?!” Brad threw his hands up and got closer to me. “Were you with him? Were you withJackson?”

I shook my head. “Why are you talking about him? What about the invitations? Why did you bring me out here?”

“The invitations are fucking fine. I just had to get you away from Jackson. He’s not a good guy, Maggie. You’re a soft girl. He’d hurt you. I just saved you from making a huge mistake.” Pacing in front of me, Brad looked up to scowl at me every few steps. “Not to mention he’s my brother. Why are you wearing those clothes? Where were you? You’re going to get yourself hurt. He’s a player.”

My head spun. “Wait. Did you say the invitations are fine?”

“You owe me! You get with a guy like Jackson and you end up knocked up in a trailer park somewhere. I got you out of that life and he’d drag you right back down.”

My hand was in the air before I realized what I was doing. I yanked it back to my body and stared in horror at Brad. I’d nearly slapped him. I’d never slapped anyone before but he’d pushed me there. Even all the shame in the world couldn’t outweigh my fury at him, though. “You got me out of the trailer park, Brad? You met me at a bar where a cocktail is fifteen dollars. Are you nuts? I can’t deal with you. I’m going to my room to go to sleep and if I see you again before tomorrow afternoon, I don’t know what I’ll do. Which way is back to the lodge?”

He was slack-jawed, still shocked that I’d almost slapped him. He raised his hand and pointed me towards the lodge. “Maggie… I-”

“Jackson was right when he told you to get fucked.”

36

***Maggie***

Istomped away, so furious that I didn’t feel my feet until I was in the hallway outside of my room. I let myself in and slammed the door shut. Looking around my room, I felt outside of myself. I didn’t get furious. I didn’t feel violent. Ever. Something about the way Brad had talked about his own brother, though, had pushed me too far. And his implication that he’d somehow saved me from a life of poverty when we started dating was a joke. I’d been doing just fine before him.

Mom had given me a great life. She’d decided she wanted a kid in her forties and made it happen without a partner. Because she worried about me lacking a father, she made sure my life was good in every other way. She took care of me and provided me with everything I ever needed. The idea that I’d been some poor sap before Brad came around made me sick. It was insulting to Mom and it was insulting to me.

Then, there was the fact that Brad barely paid for anything the entire time we were together. The only time I got treated whenwe dated was when we went to his family gatherings. It’d been fine with me, because I didn’t need to be cared for financially and because I wanted him to know I loved him for him and not his money. What an idiot I’d been.

A loud knock on the door startled me and a fresh wave of fury took me. I yanked open the door, already shouting. “If you came to-”

It wasn’t Brad.

Luke eased past me into my room. Jackson slowly made his way in next and then Ryan gently pushed me deeper into my room so he could shut the door behind us. They all seemed to sense my mood and were being delicate, despite the fact that I could see how much they wanted to ask me what happened.

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